Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Alessia
The door slams open and I expect more of Emilio's men, but instead it's Matteo standing in the doorway with his hands held out to his sides where everyone can see them.
The sight of him punches the air from my lungs and for a second, I forget about the zip ties cutting into my left wrist, forget about Lorenzo standing there with murder in his eyes, forget about everything except the fact that Matteo came for me and he's going to die because of it.
"I'm here for my wife." Matteo's voice fills the room and he's not looking at Lorenzo. He's looking at me like I'm the only person in this basement that matters. "The note said to come alone and unarmed. I followed instructions. Now let her go."
Lorenzo laughs and it comes out rough and gargled. "You think you can just walk in here and take her? She's not your wife, Romano. Not really. Our marriage is legal and binding, recognized by the church and the state. "
"It’s a matter of time before this all will be in the past." Matteo takes a step forward and every muscle in his upper body looks coiled, his shoulders bunched high enough that I can see the strain in his neck.
"In the past? She's my wife. My property. Mine by every law that matters in our world."
My stomach turns over at the word property, at the casual way he says it like I'm a car or a piece of furniture instead of a person who gets to make choices about her own life.
"That's a nice plan you have." Lorenzo reaches behind him and when his hand comes back around, he's holding a gun that must have been tucked into his waistband. "But the problem with your story, Romano, is that I'm still alive and not interested in a divorce."
He's raising the gun now, bringing it up to point at Matteo's chest, and I can see his finger moving toward the trigger. My brain is screaming at me to do something, to move, to stop this before Lorenzo puts a bullet in Matteo and I have to watch another person die because of me.
Matteo doesn't move. Doesn't try to dodge or run or even flinch away from the weapon pointed at his heart. His eyes are still locked on mine and there's something in his expression that makes my throat close up because I can read what he's thinking as clearly as if he'd said it out loud.
He came here knowing he might die. Came anyway because getting me out alive mattered more than his own survival.
I can't let that happen, can't watch the man I love die because—the thought slams into me hard enough that I forget to breathe for a second because when did that happen, when did Matteo become someone I can't imagine living without?
The word feels wrong and right at the same time and I don't have space to process it because Lorenzo's finger is moving toward the trigger.
I have to do something.
My right hand is free and I can feel it again, so I start pulling at the other zip tie and I can feel the plastic starting to give way. One more good pull and it might break, and then I'll be able to move from this damned chair.
Lorenzo's finger starts to tighten on the trigger and I see the moment he's going to fire, see it in the way his shoulders set and his jaw clenches and his eyes go flat and dead the way they always did right before he hurt me.
In that second, I tear the other zip tie and throw myself forward with everything I have, using the momentum of my whole body to lunge at Lorenzo even though my ankles are still tied to the chair legs and the movement is going to hurt like hell when the restraints catch.
I'm aiming to grab his gun hand, anything that will throw off his aim enough that the shot misses.
My hand connects with the back of his right one as he pulls the trigger and the gun goes off with a sound that's so loud in the enclosed space that my ears immediately start ringing.
The bullet goes wide, smashing into concrete somewhere behind Matteo and sending chips of stone flying, but Matteo is still standing and that's the only thing that matters.
I don’t even feel the pain in my legs when I fall down.
Lorenzo jerks his hand back and the gun falls from his grip, clattering across the floor and sliding under the metal shelving unit against the far wall.
His other hand comes around fast and catches me across the face hard enough that stars explode behind my eyes and I taste blood where my teeth cut into my cheek.
I can hear shouting but it sounds like it's coming from underwater, muffled and strange, and I can't tell if it's Matteo's voice or Lorenzo's or someone else entirely.
Then the door behind Matteo explodes inward and suddenly the basement is full of men with guns.